Official Guide To Living In The City Of Puyallup

Keeping Your New Years Resolutions

Escaping the holidays without having overindulged is a rarity. The holidays, starting with Thanksgiving, usually bring out all kinds of delicious food and treats that make it hard to abstain from eating too much or a frenzy or shopping or possibly reflection over regrettable choices that a person has made over the year. Most people usually end up regretting the amount of food and desserts that they ate over the holidays or maybe regret the amount of money they spent at the mall over the holiday and then they try to go big for their New Year’s resolutions. For most people this plan ends up back firing. New Year’s resolutions end up getting dropped after January. According to Forbes.com, only 8% of all people that make New Year’s resolutions will actually follow through. Although we go in with good intentions, our busy lives sometimes end up taking over or face challenges that create setbacks and our resolutions get put on the backburner. This doesn’t mean that we do not care or that we do not wish to improve ourselves, it just means that we don’t know how to follow through. So what are the keys to success when it comes to keeping your resolutions? There are certain ideas to keep in mind when it comes to being able to keep those important resolutions.

The American Psychological Association has stated some great resolutions tips and below you’ll find some of ours as well. First and foremost, keeping it simple is the best way to keep those goals obtainable. Most people try to attempt extreme makeovers like losing a lot of weight or come up with a long, intense list of professional or personal goals. Although thinking big can sometimes lead to big results, they can also be daunting and overwhelming. When you create a long list or a daunting list, you are creating a large mountain to climb in order to achieve any results in the long run. You are defeating yourself before you even get started. Keep your list short and create a timeline to achieve your goals that seems reasonable. Give yourself the whole year to accomplish your goals versus trying to jam a lot into a short amount of time. This way you have given yourself the time to actually achieve your goals.

Secondly, make your goals tangible. As mentioned above, many people make extreme goals like “I want to lost 100lbs” or “I never am going to candy ever again”. These are admirable but not always realistic. We have a tendency to be extreme when it comes to our goals and resolutions. Because the goals are so extreme, when people try and fail they feel defeated. This defeat leads to just giving up on the goal all together. Instead of telling yourself to lose a specific amount of weight try telling yourself that your goal is to lose some weight in general. Once you start losing weight, you will feel encouraged to continue losing weight because you have already achieved your goal. Making reasonable goals sets you up for success.

When making your resolutions for the New Year, focus on things that you really, really want. Sometimes people will make a long list of goals and are only really interested in maybe half the resolutions. We have a tendency to feel like we have to accomplish so many things in such a short amount of time. If you pick something that you are not really interested in, you will have a hard time making a commitment to see it through until completion. Choosing goals that are important to us make us take the time to actually invest in that goal. It’s not worth it to overload yourself with goals that you aren’t that interested in. Also give yourself some goals that are fun to accomplish. Most people focus on resolutions that are strictly focused on self-improvement. Making a goal to donate time to a charity or make a resolution to spend more time with loved ones in your life make for good goals that are easy to obtain and fun to achieve.

Sometimes reaching out for help can be problematic for certain people. We like to think of ourselves as strong and independent people but in reality everyone needs support and help especially when it comes to accomplishing difficult and challenging goals. The best way to see a goal accomplished is by creating a support group or by finding an accountability buddy. By telling others your goals and your timeline to complete these goals, you now have someone that will help keep you on track and remind you of your ultimate responsibility. Make sure to find someone in your life that is not easily swayed by your excuses and someone who can be forceful with you. Pick someone who has a similar interest in your goals or wishes to complete the same goal. For example, when wanting to lose weight find a workout buddy, or if you want to quit smoking find someone who also wishes to quit smoking. Sharing your struggles with friends and family make the journey seem less intimidating and they can provide the support you need to make sure that you are successful.

Setting goals for yourself is always a positive forward motion to a better life. However, there are always challenges that make us give up probably earlier than we should. The keys to success when it comes to sticking to your New Year’s resolutions that are listed above will help anyone achieve successful in their pursuit of self improvement. Something important to remember in your pursuit is to not beat yourself up over setbacks. There is no such thing as perfection so when you face a challenge and fail, it is important to not be too hard on yourself. Pick yourself back up and reconfigure your plan for success. Don’t let setbacks prevent you from starting again and giving it another try. It’s never too late to get your life on a healthy track. Keep these keys in mind when picking your goals and remember to have fun with it!